Across the Fence: Roy Bean, Scoundrel With a Law Book

Phantly Roy Bean Jr., more popularly known as Judge Roy Bean, was born sometime around 1825 in Mason County, Kentucky. Roy was the youngest of five siblings who were raised in poverty by Roy Sr. and his wife Anna.

At around 16 years of age, Roy left home on a flatboat bound for New Orleans with the hopes of finding work. But it seems that Roy Jr. was more adept at finding trouble than finding work. Or perhaps it was more often that trouble found Roy. At any rate, New Orleans proved to be a cauldron of misfortune for the impetuous, trouble-prone youth and in order to insure the possibility of a...